where did we go wrong?

what happened to the days when everyone helped out when a neighbor got hurt? My neighbor was hit by a car while turning into his feild in a tractor. He was hurt but not badly. He needed a week of rest. I went down and helpedd his hired man finish filling the bins and silo to feed his cows and hogs. No one else called to see if he was ok or even stopped by to check on him. It was not that long ago when if that happened everyone in the community stopped for a day and helped out before going back to their own work. I guess I still belive that we should live by our actions not our words or what we own.

People just dont want to get involved anymore for a lot of reasons...they're too busy themselves, afraid of doing soemthing wrong and getting sued, etc etc. Kudos to you for bucking the trend and helping out when needed.

I thinkthat he hit the nail squarely on the head , too many people are afraid of being sued . What a shame but thats the ay it is with our judical system , they allow those hihg dollar judgements that takes away the desire to help. Just my opinion .

(quoted from post at 11:05:56 10/19/11) what happened to the days when everyone helped out when a neighbor got hurt? My neighbor was hit by a car while turning into his feild in a tractor. He was hurt but not badly. He needed a week of rest. I went down and helpedd his hired man finish filling the bins and silo to feed his cows and hogs. No one else called to see if he was ok or even stopped by to check on him. It was not that long ago when if that happened everyone in the community stopped for a day and helped out before going back to their own work. I guess I still belive that we should live by our actions not our words or what we own.

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Good on you for helping!
8)

In 1950 my Father had a stroke. One day neighbors showed up and harvested the crop in one day. Thanks Neighbors!! Last week read an article about a man in Plainville In badly hurt when silo collapsed on him. Neighbors by a number about 70,showed up with machines, trucks etc.to harvest his crop. Good ole Hoosiers for sure!!

(quoted from post at 09:12:54 10/19/11) People just dont want to get involved anymore for a lot of reasons...they're too busy themselves, afraid of doing soemthing wrong and getting sued, etc etc. Kudos to you for bucking the trend and helping out when needed.

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I know a couple of guys around here who would stand abck and watch.....hoping that the lnd will come up for rent or sale.....if they helped out the guy may be able to keep on farming.

I did have a nieghbor this year who knew I was having baler trouble call and offer to finish rolling up my hay as he was 1/4 mile away and just finishing his. I had just finished pulling some new bearings in mine when he called.

Rick

I think that is why I enjoy the old tractor hobby so much. It reminds me of better times when farmers would do anything for one another. Today they farm thousands of acres and would cut each others throat to get another field to work. The people you meet in the hobby are of the old school.

Well...I've been on both ends of it. The wife and kids had quite a bit of help here when I spent 8 days in the hospital. It's awful hard to express enough gratitude when folks do things like that for you.

On the other hand,we had a neighbor here who was just like his dad was. They'd draft anybody into doing anything they could con them in to doing. I've known milk haulers who told of them not being done with the milking when they got there and they wanted the hauler to help finish milking. The guys wife called me one day and said he'd had a heart attack,needed me to come up. Got there,he was sitting there at the supper table. This was mid December keep in mind and he hadn't even started picking corn when everybody else was done. His worthless son was sitting right there and the guy asked me if I could pick his corn. I wasn't real happy since he hadn't even made an attempt yet and the son,my age,was sitting right there too. I told him I'd haul if his son wanted to pick. They never mentioned it again. I did go up and haul a load of manure out of the stanchion barn once when he'd had a car accident. The guy finally died of prostate cancer,but you just never knew when he REALLY needed help and when he was pulling a scam to get somebody else to do his work.

Last sunday I saw about twenty semi's waiting at the local elevator. I mentioned it while gassing up the van and learned they were harvesting a middle age man's corn that day. He was killed in a ATV accident recently. They had combined his beans a week or so earlier. About 800 acres total.

In 39 years I"ve had two chances to join neighbors to do another"s field work. First time, nine of us got together to plow 100 acres when the neighbor broke his ankle. Next time, three of us baled while a half dozen unloaded thrower wagons, when another neighbor had surgery at the VA. Lots of fun, good camaraderie, good food, and a touch of beer!

Still common in this town and area, but then again, the farms that are left resemble much of what was commonplace way back when. There is a large dairy farm in town, and just over the county line a much larger one with 2000 head, and there is sometimes interaction with large or small farms, the one in town lost a combine, caught fire, neighbor/farmer stepped in and finished their harvest. Even if they are not all that fond of each other, not trust each other on some things, they still work together, something I notice that bond between farms/farmers is still strong regardless. Often times the neighbor rents out his tractor and baler, to another as its closer to a field they are working, it works because he makes some money, they know how to run it not too much to worry about, as you know some people are awful with rented or borrowed equipment. Forgot what happened, but one year that big dairy (2000 head) came down and harvested my neighbors corn, he sells them hay and straw, lot of interaction still, something to admire in people.

'09 was a real bad year for my neighbor, he had some life threatening health issues, and was still farming 500-600 acres, luckily after planting was done, so I helped by doing most of the trucking, his son came by everyday after the regular job, I usually had whatever he needed fueled, greased, we got 150 acres of hay done, 70 acres of oats harvested, straw baled, and they got the 250 in corn combined, I could not do the corn, as we had a barn collapse and repairs to do. I kept doing the trucking after work, so the cash flow still trickled in. The best was he really appreciated it, as I have heard others mention, best of all, he's healed up, can still work, they had told him he'd have to retire. He gave up most rented land, no more crops, just doing hay and trucking, the latter being done in a newer truck with a new sileage grain body, his old one a DM Mack was better suited as a field truck, so the new one rides much better and given his health, a wise move. I think its an honorable thing to help others, you're there when they need you, and vice versa. Nice to know if I get stuck with my old 850 ford, I can always go over to his barn do it myself or if he's there he'd come right over if not busy, always been like that, nice to know someone has your back.

Most guys around here would not be bothered unless something was in it for them and usually that means the ground getting rented to them. I know there are guys just waiting for me to have some misfortune so they could stick it to me.
I agree with RR Lund too that there are guys out there that milk the sympathy of others even though these said guys could do their own. I've known a couple of those guys, too.
Anyways feel proud for your contribution to your neighbor. These acts of kindness are all too rare anymore.

When Grandpa died in 1951, all the neighbors brought in their pull type combines and had the wheat cut in no time.
Last year when my son broke his back, a friend brought in his combine to help cut beans. Several brought in firewood and split it. Church people and others cut his grass, donated money to help with expenses, helped him harvest 2 acres of pumpkins, load and haul straw, clean their house and help take care of the kids while his wife was taking care of him. We are very blessed to have such good people around.
Richard

Last fall, a friend who's in his mid 60's had heart trouble and had to have a stent put in. He had about 300 acres of corn left out. My dad ran his combine, I dumped loads, towed some wagons, and watched his drying setup, another neighbor brought a semi and trailer, another brought a combine and straight truck and we got it done in a few days.

He did have alot of other offers (mostly from big time operators, or BTO's) to "help" him by trying to rent his farm and trying to rent ground out from under him. One even lied to one of his landlords that he sent him over to talk about renting some ground because he was retiring, and was too ill to let the landlord know. None offered to help him get his crop off (without getting to rent his ground in return). It was also neat hearing him tell about the 75 year old farmer telling him (again, he's in his 60's) that he was too darn old to be farming and probably should give it up.

His stent turned out well and he's still farming, and said to many that tried to "help" him by getting ground away from him that they'll be the last to know when he isn't farming anymore.

A few years back, a BTO (who coincidentially tried to "help" the above neighbor by offering to rent his farm) helped put together a crew to help a farmer who was not well get his crops out. Probably 25 farmers came to help. Local TV news covered it, it was in the local papers, and I think it was even on AG DAY. Crops were harvested, hauled to the elevator and ground was all plowed. BTO spent his time talking to the media, got all of the credit for setting this up to "help a neighbor" and never did help one bit with the harvest. Turns out the BTO already had the farm rented and wanted these crops out of his way. He also got his fall plowing for the next season done for free. Swell guy.

AG

The land issue is definitely behind the scenes here too, one place the neighbor started renting a few years ago, is close to the large dairy in town, owner would let it sit fallow, then let them use it, no idea why, also not sure who is in there now, as the neighbor gave it up I believe, funny thing is they all still help each other, but land acquisition is always on their minds, not like Ozzie and Harriet, perfect world either, strange how things work sometimes.

I think you kind of answered yourself when you called them neighbors.not many Neighbors left around here anymore,but sure are a lot of people moving in!LOL .it seem like not so long ago everyone knew each other,probably had went to school with each other ,and went out of the way to get along for the most part.i dont see that much anymore,it seems like everyone is simply too busy looking out for themselves or too busy to be neighborly anymore.its a shame really,even though i'm as guilty as anyone, and i think the community and the nation as a whole is worse off for it.

Pretty much a thing of the past. Now days it is more like at least in this area how can I screw my neighbor, like the one guy we are having to sue so that we can get in like we should be able to. If we had to have emergency services to my moms place well she would be dead before they could get there because he has closed down the road so tight a fire truck etc can not get in. Yep gone are the day that neighbor helps neighbor now it is who can I screw out of what

It's alive and well here in the Dakota's.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/337689
link to story

Farm Rescue
Farm Rescue

sounds like most of you live in a really nice part of the country.

Where I live most of the guys (meaning the majority) set around waiting for each other to die or get into trouble so they can take over the farm. (sic)

A few years back a friend of mine had a heart attack and died in his sleep. This was just in the beginning of wheat harvest. 12 combines and numerous trucks showed up to get the wheat out for his wife and sons. In three days they got all of his wheat out and then went back to their own harvest. Not an uncommon thing here in the TX Panhandle or Eastern NM.

Farm Rescue also have a facebook site- follow the link from their home page.
farm rescue updates

Still a lot of good people around, I had open heart surgery in March. I don't have a farm by any means 2 acres lots of trees and mostly lawn. Two guys I've worked with for 35 yrs came out and cleaned up my leaves did pruning and weedeating all around the place kept lawn mowed all summer (3 hr job) Brother came and painted my house don't know what kind of mess I would have had without them. No way to repay them.

Well-said, Tom!

Oh the good folks are still out there, though maybe they aren't as numerous as they once were. A friend of mine came down with a terrible virus right at the beginning of harvesting tobacco in August. We had a group of 35 people show up and turned out two weeks of work in 1 day! They say bad karma is a b*tch...well good karma can be pretty sweet!

we still do it around here. but reading some older post on how some people don't want anyone on there land or they think everyone is out to screw them or sue them it's real easy to see why some don't get help or give help when needed. when is the last time anyone of you have helped someone with a flat tire along the road? we live in a world of fear and most are to scared to help. i have work EMS & fire for years and it just amazes me how people can drive by or witness a crash and just drive on by. i have help and will help many more have i run in to some nut you bet but for every bad one have had many more good ones.

Most people in my area who farm will help each other out, many people work off the farm and people who are home will haul feed from the mill or pen cattle and take them to the sale, things like that are common, you do it because you know they will do it for you if the tables are turned. For as long as I can remember several people around the parish have baled and hauled hay for the older people who can"t do it by themselves anymore, this is a tradition that has survived at least 4 generations in my memory.

I can't say where we went wrong. Id say stupid things like the old Chevy Dodge Ford debate caused a lot of jealousy between neighbors and they just kinda dropped away from each other.

When I was growing up and doing farming it was mostly An old Huber that did everyone's thrashing 8N's, Ford Ferguson, JD A's and B's Farmall H's and MD was the biggest One farmer went and bought a Dutez 4 WD and he quit doing the share crop method that was so commonly done in the area.

Now the equipment has become more powerful and faster along with the investment one family can do what it took several farmers to do in a given year. and they don't have time to think of what it would be like if the shoe was on the other foot.

someone has to step forward and get the ball rolling. i did twice in neighbor hood had 14combines an don't remember wagons trucks started 8 crop out by 5.30pm. that was about eight years ago,he died suddenly during harvest HAVE YOU STEPPED FORWARD TO LINE IT UP.

Here in south central Iowa we still do help the neighbors when trouble strikes them. 2years age neighbors hay cond broke, could not get parts. I went over and finished up his 35 acres. This is typical here.

Perhaps I am a bit less jaded but I don't really think it is an issue with people being afraid of being sued. I think it ties more toward people being less willing to take the effort to make things happen. My guess is that in a lot of cases the issue boils down to no one being willing to take up the lead and plan it.

We have the same thing happening in my church to a point. Whenever a ministry comes up many people think it is a good idea but few will volunteer when asked as a group. However people are a bit more willing to participate if asked directly.

My guess is it boils down to people being concerned and helpful in principle but in reality opening their large excuse book when it comes to putting the actual rubber to the road.

My grandfather died in 1969 and had about 20 bottle fed calves at the time. I was around 14 years old and I'll never forget people in the community coming over and taking care of feeding the livestock. Most of the farmers around where I'm from would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it.

We still have good neighbors around here. There are 4 of us right here close, who are one man operations, since our wives work in town. It's not uncommon for someone to swing into somebody elses driveway if we see them struggling with a two man job.

It's also not uncommon for us to sit around a fire, roasting weanies and drinking a few beers, when an evening arises.

I always figured I needed to stay ahead in the [i:641f23c89e]helping out[/i:641f23c89e] department, someday the jig will be up and I'll never be able to repay the people that come to help my family.... I want them all to say we're even.

Tim

We still try to help when we can. After the heavy rains this summer we helped each other out where we could. If it had happened at harvest it would have been real hard.

Also remember that everyone has less free time any more. It seems that you have to work more to just get by anymore. I have several neighbors that still milk. They have very little time to help any one else. The one starts everyday at 4 am and is still going at dark. My Grand Dad always said that that man will die and his body would take two days to stop.

sounds like some of my mega farmer neighbors